Survival of flood victims, our concern –Jonathan

[Sunexx360]

President Goodluck Jonathan, on Sunday, said the government was concerned about resettling the flooded communities and averting looming food scarcity.
Jonathan, who was taken round the flooded communities in Bayelsa State in an aircraft incompany with the state governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, said the Ministry of Agriculture had been directed to map out strategies against the impending scarcity.
He spoke in Yenagoa before visiting the relief camp for flood victims at the Sports Complex, observing that the flooding had dealt a big blow on the country's food production.
He said, "But our main interest is how they will survive when the flood goes down. All their crops and farmlands are flooded and inmost cases even their seedlings, suckers andcassava cuttings must have been destroyed by the flood. We are looking at different options."
One of the options being considered by the government, he said was importing scarce food items and supplying them to the affected areas.
He said another alternative was to look for species of crops that would mature within a short period after planting.
He added, "Something like maize that takes about three months to mature, we are looking at how we can get the ones that willmature in 60 days.  We are also looking for the rice that will endure some level of flooding. These are the areas the Ministry of Agriculture is working on."
He said the government believed that constructing additional dams would minimise the impacts of flooding in the future.
He explained that unlike the 1969 flooding when water from the River Niger overran many communities, the bulk of the water that resulted in the present disaster came from the River Benue.
He argued that the Shiroro and Kainji Dams, which were constructed after the 1969 disaster, were able to contend with upsurge of water from the River Niger.
He said the dearth of dams in the Benue axisaggravated the disaster, adding that there was an urgent need for the government to construct dams in the area.
He said it was difficult for any government toplan for natural disasters like flooding, noting that government could only plan for other forms of disasters like the ones that occur in the aviation sector.
He said, "Flooding is not something very common. The last big flood that we experienced in this country was 43 years ago. It is difficult to build an infrastructure tointervene. I have noticed that the flooding we used to experience before came from the River Niger.
"With the completion of the Kainji Dam and the Shiroro Dam, that flooding reduced. This year, when I visited Kogi State and we went to the confluence point, we were told that the bulk of the water came in from Benue."

[KingFemzee]

Of course that should be the paramount concern of the govt.